#they’ve been losing their top stars left and right either by injury or exiting the company

[milesworld96]

YALL…..WE GOT NEWS☹️

[wrestlingisfake]

All Out preview

Chris Jericho vs. Hangman Page - This match is to determine the first AEW men’s world champion.  Page qualified for this match by winning a 21-man battle royale at Double or Nothing on May 25; Jericho qualified by defeating Kenny Omega later in the same show.  Jericho has held six world heavyweight titles; this would be his first outside of WWE.  Page has never held a singles championship of any kind in a major-league promotion, although he’s been talking about being the first to hold this title since the original AEW press conference in January.

AEW is trying to position this as a true main event, mainly on the strength of the title and Jericho, even though the ladder match and (at one point) Omega-Moxley were clearly bigger draws.  I expect that this match will go on last just to establish the primacy of the world championship.  That’s a lot of pressure on Page, who was barely even a midcarder 18 months ago.  Of all the talent getting pushes to elevate them to the Kenny Omega’s star power, he’s the one with a rocket strapped to his back.  There’s a sense that this match is his Rocky moment, and he’s carried that idea well in interviews.

Jericho has handled the story convincingly, pushing the notion that Page is ready for this level of competition, while still asserting that he’s the favorite going into the match.  Page is great...but he won’t be good enough on this particular night.  Jericho has also stressed that he needs to beat Page, because a loss would set up talk about him passing the torch in the twilight of his career, and he’s not willing to be treated like a used-to-be.  It’s an interesting approach for the 48-year-old Jericho, because the tipping point between “veteran superstar” and “old timer doing jobs on the way to retirement” is precarious.  It makes sense that he would fight tooth-and-nail to keep from going over that tipping point, and direct that fury towards his 28-year-old opponent.

Assuming this really will close the show, it needs to be a great match.  I don’t think it will be, or needs to be, the best match of the night.  But it needs to be great enough that we leave thinking they were right to put it on last, and that Page has what it takes to close the show.  More critically, we need to come away thinking AEW title matches are epic conflicts, so the promotion can credibly use the championships as box office attractions in their own right.

I would be fine with Page as champion, but I think the best move is to have him deliver a star-making performance and then suffer a heartbreaking loss to Jericho.  That’s not to say Page shouldn’t eventually win the title.  But Jericho has both the clout and the heel heat to sustain a very long chase from multiple contenders, which will make the first men’s world title change as important as the first men’s world title match.

Rey Fenix & Pentagon, Jr. vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson - The Lucha Bros, Penta and Fenix, are defending the AAA tag team championship.  The Young Bucks, Matt and Nick, are defending an AEW undefeated streak.  This is a ladder match, so the title belts will be suspended above the ring; to reach them ladders will be provided at ringside for the wrestlers to climb.  The first person to retrieve the belts will win the match, and the championship, for his team.  Since that’s the only way the match can end, there are effectively no count-outs, disqualifications, pinfalls, or submissions.

The feud between the Lucha Bros and the Young Bucks in February, when Penta and Fenix took exception to the Bucks claiming to be the best tag team and attacked them at their own press conference.  On March 16 the Lucha Bros headlined AAA’s Rey de Reyes and won the tag team title, but the Bucks showed up for an impromptu title match and took the belts back to AEW.   The Bucks successfully defended the title in a rematch at AEW’s Double or Nothing on May 25, but the Lucha Bros finally won it back at AAA’s Verano de Escandalo on June 16.  The Bucks teamed with Kenny Omega against the Lucha Bros and Laredo Kid at AEW Fyter Fest on June 29 and AAA Triplemania on August 3.  Penta and Fenix issued the challenge for this match at Fight for the Fallen on July 13.

Fenix suffered some sort of leg injury in the past week.  From what I’ve read, it might not be anything, but he was worried he tore something and had to get it checked out.  The fact I haven’t heard an actual diagnosis suggests that they couldn’t find anything wrong with him.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything wrong, but I’m hoping it turned out to be nothing and Fenix just needed to rest it up.  Either way, I expect the possible injury to be worked into the story of the match, and for the Bucks to do a bunch of moves and stuff onto the leg.

I kinda think the Mexican team should walk out with the Mexican championship, but it is the Bucks’ show and they’ve talked up how legendary their ladder matches are.  They can easily win here and then drop the belts at a AAA show, without any apparent impact on the AEW win-loss stats.  I gotta pick the Bucks to win (at least all the way up to the finals of the AEW tag title tournament).

Kenny Omega vs. PAC - Pac, formerly Adrian Neville in WWE, is a substitution for Jon Moxley, who had to pull out of this match last week due to a staph infection.  Ironically, the substitution pays off on plans that were canceled a while back.

Pac’s involvement in AEW was announced at the company’s original press conference, while he held Dragon Gate’s top title (the Open the Dream Gate championship).  He was set to feud with Hangman Page, and the storyline played up the idea that Page wanted to be a champion, implying the match would figure into the AEW world title picture.  Then on May 18 Page beat Pac by disqualification at a British indy show, setting up an angle where Pac refused to face Page at their scheduled AEW match on May 25. 

It turned out Pac would not agree to lose any matches during his title run, and AEW had decided never to do DQ finishes to get out of booking clean finishes.  There was talk that Pac wasn’t even supposed to lose to Page, but he would be feuding with Omega later.  I seem to remember speculating that Omega and Pac were meant to win their matches on May 25 and meet for the AEW title here.  Obviously that didn’t happen.  But Pac has since lost the Dream Gate belt on July 21, which puts him back in play at AEW.  And just in the nick of time, it seems.

I was expecting Moxley to be the slight favorite in the originally scheduled match, but now that Pac is in the mix anything is possible.  The outcome is totally up in the air, and it’s just as well since I expect the focus is on delivering a killer match to make up for failing to deliver the advertised match.  Even though Omega was playing a dick by mocking Mox’s “boo-boo,” Pac is an even bigger dick, so I’m lowkey pulling for Kenny.

Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears - Spears will be seconded by Tully Blanchard, playing on the legendary rivalry between Blanchard and Cody’s father Dusty.  Cody brought an entire entourage to the ring a year ago at All In, but for this match he is contractually limited to a single person in his corner.  We haven’t been outright told this person will be a big surprise who will make a big difference in the match, but it’s been set up to let us think that, so I hope Cody doesn’t just bring out Dustin Rhodes or Dallas Page.

Rhodes and Spears were friends in OVW when they were coming up through WWE developmental.  Cody hit it big in WWE, while Spears (as Tye Dillinger) languished for most of his thirties.  When Spears jumped to AEW, fans generally considered it a positive move for both parties, although Cody made an offhand remark about Spears being a “player-coach” and a “good hand,” curiously implying that he was dismissing his friend as a journeyman.  Spears took offense and blasted Cody with a chair on June 29, leaving Cody a bloody mess.

This is easily the biggest match of Spears’s career, and it’s probably one of his last chances to escape the stigma of being a never-was.  A win would give him momentum as a key figure in the early weeks of AEW’s TV show, as Cody would need to chase him for a few more months to seek vengeance.  A loss would simply validate WWE’s lack of interest in Tye Dillinger--and worse, affirm Cody’s kayfabe dismissiveness on AEW’s own programming.  Cody hasn’t actually been pinned yet in AEW, so I assume they’re saving that for something; I hope this is it.

Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta - The team that wins this match earns a bye in the AEW tag team championship tournament.  So basically you have to win this one match in order to skip one tournament match.  That’s kinda screwy.  Both of these teams won three-ways to qualify for this match.  The Best Friends (Taylor/Beretta) qualified on June 28, while the Dark Order (Uno/Grayson) qualified on July 13.

I think the plan was for the Dark Order to be super-over as a hot team with a spooky gimmick and a cult following on the indies.  It hasn’t been working out.  Honestly, Chuck Taylor manages to come off as creepier than the Dark Order’s gimmick just by being a really weird dude who is oddly devoted to hugs.  Hopefully the popularity of the Best Friends will override disinterest in the Dark Order to heat the match up.  Logically, the bad guys should get the bye, so I think the Dark Order better cheat a lot.

Riho vs. Hikaru Shida - I’ve heard talk that the winner of this match will qualify for the first women’s world championship match on October 2, but I haven’t been able to confirm that.  It wouldn’t make a ton of sense anyway, considering Riho is 2-1 in AEW and coming off of a loss, while Shida is 1-0 but hasn’t appeared in the company since May.  I don’t have stats in front of me, but I would think at least one other woman in the company would have more credibility in this spot.  Then again, Britt Baker was sidelined with a concussion for much of August, so maybe she was originally slated for this spot and they decided they couldn’t wait to see if she’d be cleared.  I guess I’ll go with Riho to win, even though I’m still not sure what’s at stake.

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus & Marko Stunt - The Daniels team is SCU.  Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are “A Boy and His Dinosaur,” so I guess with Marko they’re “A Boy and A Boy and His Dinosaur” or something like that.  This could be a good chance to put over the Luchasaurus team, but their gimmick is going to be over either way, so maybe they should keep up momentum on SCU.

Darby Allin vs. Joey Janella vs. Jimmy Havoc - This is a three-way match, so the first man to score a fall on either of his opponents wins.  These guys were on the losing end of a six-man tag match on July 13.  At the time I believe I observed that nobody in that six-man had yet won a match, so now the losers of the Weenie Hut Jr.’s Bowl are having a Super Weenie Hut Jr.’s Bowl.  I guess the guy who scores the winning fall gets to escape into the midcard, while the other two open the next show, and the loser of that match gets to hang out with Brandon Cutler backstage or something.  Of the three, Allin is the biggest project with perhaps the least indy scene cred, so he’ll probably be the Super Weenie Hut Jr.’s champion.

21-Woman Casino Battle Royale - This is set for the free pre-show.  It’s a gauntlet battle royale with timed entrances and over-the-top-rope eliminations, but with the same special rules as the one AEW did on May 25.  Five women start the match, and every three  minutes another group of women enter; the 21st woman enters alone.  Eliminations can occur at any time by exiting the ring over the top rope and placing both feet on the floor before re-entering.  The last woman left after everyone else is eliminated wins the match, and qualifies to wrestle...uh, someone (maybe the winner of Riho vs. Shida?) for the women’s championship on October 2.

As soon as AEW announced the match, they admitted they didn’t have 21 women on the roster, so we can expect a lot of new faces.  Confirmed so far:

Allie

Awesome Kong

Big Swole

Brandi Rhodes

Britt Baker

Ivelisse

Jazz

Nyla Rose

Sadie Gibbs

Shazza McKenzie

Teal Piper

I heard AEW and Impact Wrestling were in talks to put Tenille Dashwood in this match, but even if that’s true they might not get the i’s dotted in time.  Taya Valkyrie was on Being the Elite the other day, but I don’t know if that means anything.  Obviously Chicago is wondering if CM Punk will be at this show, but I never see anyone wondering if his wife, AJ Mendez, might show up.  Apparently something is up with Kylie Rae but nobody’s talking about it, which is troubling.  I don’t even know what continent Bea Priestly will be on during this show, so she may not be available.

It feels like AEW’s biggest plans in this division are for Baker, although that could be just to have her put over someone else when the moment comes.  The safest bet is Britt, though, until someone else emerges from the pack.

Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen - Another match for the pre-show.  Kassidy and Quen are Private Party, and everyone likes them but the big issue I’m always hearing is that they’re green and need to be protected by veterans until they’re ready.  Evans and Angelico are veterans, so there you go.  My guess is that AEW won’t book Private Party to actually win a match until they’ve decided the team is truly ready, but since we don’t know when that’ll happen we have something to look forward to every time they wrestle.  For now, I gotta pick Evangelico (is anybody calling them that?) to win.

[your-dietician]

MLB Trade Rumors and News: Schwarber, Avila hit the 10-day IL

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MLB Trade Rumors and News: Schwarber, Avila hit the 10-day IL

The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we’re running here at MLBDD that rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us up at @mlbdailydish on Twitter or @MLBDailyDish on Instagram.

The Nationals are having a rough past couple of days, as both Kyle Schwarber and Alex Avila have been placed on the 10-day IL per a team announcement. Schwarber, who thankfully won’t need surgery, will sit after suffering a right calf strain running to first last Friday. The timetable for his return has yet to be set, and the first-time All-Star will almost absolutely miss the game. Gerardo Parra will play left field in his absence. Avila will miss time because of bilateral calf strains.

The Brewers have acquired Kevin Kramer from the Pirates. In return for the utilityman, Pittsburgh will receive left-hander Nathan Kirby. Kramer has seen 43 MLB games, with .387 OPS over 90 plate appearances. Kirby, 27, has seen his very short career ravaged by injuries. However, while in Double-A Biloxi, he’s recorded a 1.93 ERA with a 23.17% strikeout rate.

The Yankees added some speed to their roster on Thursday as they traded for Tim Locastro from the Diamondbacks in exchange for a pitching prospect. Sure, Locastro isn’t exactly a household name and he isn’t having a banner year at the plate, but the guy can RUN and he is more than willing to lean into a pitch to get on base, so the Yankees have that going for them.

Dellin Betances just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injury. The Mets signed Betances in free agency after the 2019 season in the hopes that he could put his injury issues behind him and return to his previously dominant form. Instead, he has pitched a total of 12.2 innings in a Mets uniform and now has to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.

Mariners lefty Héctor Santiago is the first pitcher to be disciplined as part of MLB’s foreign substance crackdown after being ejected Sunday, when umpires believed they found a foreign substance on his glove. Santiago admitted to having rosin on his glove, and while it wasn’t a highly-publicized element of the new policy, pitchers are now strictly prohibited from having rosin on their person, even though they are allowed to obtain it from the bag on the mound. MLB confiscated Santiago’s glove but never examined it, and now they’ve hit him with a 10-game suspension and undisclosed fine.

MLB is investigating Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer after a woman was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against him in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Bauer’s attorney claims the actions took place as part of a consensual sexual relationship.

The Blue Jays are determined to reach the playoffs for a second straight season, and they boosted their roster on Tuesday morning by acquiring sidearming reliever Adam Cimber and currently injured outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Marlins in exchange for veteran utility player Joe Panik and relief prospect Andrew McInvale.

Indians outfielder Josh Naylor is likely out for the season after suffering a dislocated right ankle in a collision with second baseman Ernie Clement. If this is it for Naylor this year, he’ll finish with rather unremarkable numbers: a .253/.301/.399 slash line and seven homers in 69 games.

Braves starter Mike Soroka has re-ruptured his Achilles and will not pitch again in 2021. After making three starts in 2020, he tore his Achilles. He hadn’t pitched since then. Soroka looked like he’d be the Braves’ ace for years to come after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .236 OBA in 2019, but now his future is extremely uncertain.

The Athletics have reunited with veteran starter Homer Bailey on a minor league contract. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 35-year old was ravaged by injuries in 2020. The last time Bailey played with Oakland, he hurled 4.30 ERA over 13 starts and 73 1/3 innings. Here’s hoping for a comeback.

It is always nice to start the day with some good news, and Cubs fans woke up to fuzzy feelings all around last week as Chicago used four pitchers including starter Zach Davies and closer Craig Kimbrel to no-hit the Dodgers. Kimbrel looked like the Kimbrel of old, and let’s not understate how difficult it is to shut down that Dodgers offense. Really impressive.

The Rays promoted top prospect Wander Franco, and he immediately made his presence known in his debut, hitting a game-tying homer for his first major league hit while also collecting a double and a walk. At Triple-A Durham, the 20-year-old was slashing .323/.376/.601 with seven home runs in 173 plate appearances.

The Mets’ rotation sustained a pair of blows last week, as the team announced that lefty Joey Lucchesi will undergo Tommy John surgery, then right-hander Marcus Stroman exited his start early with left hip soreness. While they have a comfortable lead in the NL East, the Mets continue to be dealt an incredible amount of adversity, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can stay afloat.

The Blue Jays have signed veteran reliever John Axford, reports Jamie Campbell of Sportsnet. The 38-year-old hasn’t seen a major league mound since 2018 and had been working as an analyst on the Jays’ pre and postgame shows before being asked to pitch for them again. The bulk of his career came with the Brewers, as he played in Milwaukee from 2009-13, but now the Ontario native will embark on his third stint with Toronto.

The Tigers have released Wilson Ramos, per a club announcement. The 33-year old signed a $2M deal with Detroit at the beginning of this year, and he looked like he was really giving the Tigers the most value for their buck after going yard six times in his first nine games. Unfortunately that took a turn in early May, when a back injury completely derailed the 12-year major league veteran. Should he be able to heal quickly enough for a late season renaissance, he could make a great extra backstop for a team in contention. Posting a 105 wRC+ for the Mets in 2019, he’s still got some gas left in the tank for whatever team is willing to take the risk.

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is going to be out for an extended period after suffering a quad injury trying to beat out a double play.

Rays ace Tyler Glasnow’s season is in jeopardy after he suffered a partially torn UCL and flexor strain in his right arm. He’ll initially try to rehab the injuries rather than immediately opting for Tommy John surgery. In an interesting crossover with the biggest story being discussed around baseball right now, Glasnow said MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances contributed to his injury, as he stopped using a mixture of sunscreen and rosin, and as a result he began gripping the baseball so hard that he injured his elbow.

A lot has been made in recent weeks about the proliferation of foreign substances used primarily (but certainly not exclusively) by pitchers to get better grip on balls to have better command as well as to generate greater spin. It has been clear that MLB was going to crack down on the practice and now it looks like it has landed on its chosen punishment, as it was announced that players found to be using such substances will receive a 10-game paid suspension.

It is fair to say that the 2021 season has been a particularly weird one. Teams that we all thought would be good haven’t been and teams that were thought to be afterthoughts have been anything but. Our own Andersen Pickard broke down the five most surprising teams from the 2021 season so far.

It’s the most glorious time of the year: here’s your 2021 MLB Draft primer for notable players, draft order, and more.

The Twins are dragging their feet for extension talks with Jose Berrios, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports. Berrios has one last year of arbitration eligibility before he’s free to sow his wild oats and hit the market in the 2022-23 offseason. And as of now, the Twins have done little to nothing to stop him. Could that be because the NL Central 4th place team is looking to use him as a lucrative trade chip come this year’s deadline? The 27-year old could bring a significant return for Minnesota, but is it enough to risk for them losing him? He’s having another strong season this year, with a 3.49 ERA and a 26% strikeout rate. Either way, as the trade deadline gets closer, we’ll see what moves the Twins are thinking of making.

After going 5-24 in the month of May, the Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling and are already buried in an NL West where even a good season would not guarantee a playoff berth. In order to try to stop the bleeding and try to get back to some level of decency, Arizona fired hitting coaches Eric Hinske and Darnell Coles. Sadly, given the breadth of that roster’s issues, it seems like that they will still end up as one of the league’s worst teams.

Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, widely regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects and the potential savior of the Mariners organization, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after getting into an 0-for-39 slump. Kelenic, who played just 28 games in the upper minors (21 at Double-A in 2019 and seven at Triple-A this year) before reaching the majors, has an .096 batting average and .378 OPS in 23 major league games.

The Mets had been hopeful to get Noah Syndergaard back in their rotation soonish to try and hold off their division rivals in what has been a surprisingly bad National League East. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a good bit longer, as Syndergaard’s rehab hit a setback, and elbow inflammation will keep him out until at least August.

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[nflfanpointii]

Saints can’t afford to fall behind in the NFC Arms Race

Everyone else is getting better, and the Saints can’t afford to stay pat.

There’s a cold war brewing among NFC playoff teams, and the New Orleans Saints risk falling behind in it. Nearly all of their postseason competitors - the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, and Los Angeles Rams - have made big moves to upgrade their rosters. Two sleeper teams (the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears) are surrounding their young quarterbacks with playmakers and the Green Bay Packers look to capitalize on Aaron Rodgers’ return from a season-losing injury.

Let’s take a quick recap around the conference title contenders. The Vikings have made the biggest splashes, investing big in franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins and bringing a talented, wayward pass rusher into the fold with Sheldon Richardson. It’ll be interesting to see whether Vikings general manager Rick Spielman can keep his young core together in the coming years, or struggle the way Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider did after paying Russell Wilson.

The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, frauds no longer after 87 years of fraudulence, made the strength of their team even stronger by trading a bag of peanuts (not even boiled!) for a top-ten edge rusher in Michael Bennett. Sure, they had to release longtime sack artist Vinny Curry to afford it, but the Eagles were able to reinforce their defensive line further with Haloti Ngata and bring back linebacker Nigel Bradham at a discount.

Things are industrious on the West Coast. The Los Angeles Rams have remade Wade Phillips’ defensive secondary with twin trades for Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, joining them to talented fourth man Nickell Robey-Coleman and franchise tagged slot defender Lamarcus Joyner. Sure, they lost edge rusher Robert Quinn, but his play has been in decline. Lienbacker Alec Ogletree’s trade to the New York Giants could also be seen as addition by subtraction.

The San Francisco 49ers have gotten busy up the coast, breaking Seahawks hearts by adding Richard Sherman after locking in franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. They’ve handed out sizeable contracts to find Jimmy GQ some help through a new center (Weston Richburg) and a Tevin Coleman-style athlete at running back (Jerrick McKinnon). And with plenty more money to burn, they likely aren’t done yet.

Chicago is another team that could crash the party, should Green Bay’s signing of turncoat receiver Jimmy Graham not be enough. They’ve spent as much as anyone to give their young quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with pass-catchers: Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel offer all the upside in the world in the right roles, while tight end Trey Burton looks to make plays on top of the depth chart.

Mercifully, the Saints’ rivals in the NFC South are either in shambles, sitting pat, or still figuring themselves out. The Carolina Panthers have looked rudderless, trading a young starting cornerback (Daryl Worley) for Torrey Smith (a worse version of Ted Ginn Jr) and losing their All-Pro guard Andrew Norwell without contest. Defensive tackle Star Lotulelei exited to join the Buffalo Bills, and was replaced by Dontari Poe - who was largely ineffective for the Atlanta Falcons last year.

The Falcons have struggled to hold onto their own with Matt Ryan doing so much damage to their salary cap. Their biggest move has been the addition of guard Brandon Fusco, while pass rusher Adrian Clayborn left for the New England Patriots and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel bolted for Chicago. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a few big moves, as usual (signing Eagles defensive lineman Beau Allen, and Baltimore Ravens center Ryan Jensen), but as always it remains to be seen if any of them will pan out.

That brings us back to the Saints. They’ve gotten better at linebacker (thanks, Demario Davis) and slot defender (welcome back, Patrick Robinson) while hopefully erasing some negative plays at safety (that’s on you, Kurt Coleman). Other than that, I don’t see many moves the Saints can make to go toe-to-toe with the upgrades made in Minnesota, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or maybe even San Francisco. Staying stagnant is dangerous. It’s why landing Ndamukong Suh is so important.

[junker-town]

4 NFL teams that should be panicking the most this week

The Cowboys have lost three one-score games so far in 2019.

The Dallas coaches are failing their players (like always), the Saints looked lifeless against the Falcons, and the Bills fall apart against good teams. Also, what’s wrong with Saquon Barkley?

After a week dominated by upsets, there are a lot of teams panicking around the NFL. Let’s start with the Cowboys, who shot themselves in the foot repeatedly Sunday night.

It wasn’t hard to see what was working for Dallas. Dak Prescott was cooking the Vikings while Ezekiel Elliott couldn’t do much of anything.

Prescott finished with 397 passing yards, three touchdowns, and only threw an interception on a Hail Mary as time expired. Elliott only finished with 47 rushing yards on 20 attempts. So who did the Cowboys trust when the game was on the line? Elliott, of course.

With just under five minutes left and the Vikings leading 28-24, the Cowboys needed to go 94 yards for a game-winning touchdown. Seven of the first eight plays of the drive were pass plays and Prescott completed six of them for 79 yards. Just like that, the Cowboys were 11 yards away from the end zone.

Then Elliott was stuffed for no gain and dropped for a 3-yard loss on back-to-back plays. A fourth-down pass to Elliott fell incomplete and the Vikings took over on downs.

Whyyy are the Cowboys coaches so stubborn about forcing square pegs into round holes? It’s important to have a game plan and it’s good to have offensive balance. But coaching is also about making adjustments and adapting to the flow of the game. Dallas, now 5-4, hasn’t had that and it’s losing winnable games as a consequence.

The Cowboys played the Saints without Drew Brees, the Packers without Davonte Adams and the Vikings without Adam Thielen and lost them all.

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) November 11, 2019

Jason Garrett’s job security has been called into question many times before, but he may finally get the boot if a roster with a top-10 offense and top-10 defense can’t win a subpar NFC East in 2019.

Panic index: The division is still right in front of the Cowboys. They’re tied for the lead with the Eagles and have a rematch with Philadelphia coming just before Christmas. It’s hard to trust Garrett and his staff not to screw things up, but the Cowboys are plenty talented enough to win in spite of them anyway.

The Saints’ offense couldn’t do anything against the FALCONS

Uh, what the heck, Saints? They were 7-1, a double-digit favorite, coming off a bye, playing at home, and facing a 1-7 team on a six-game losing streak who looked worse every week.

And then they let the Falcons dunk on them all afternoon in an embarrassing 26-9 loss. Even with their elite offensive line, the Saints allowed a defense that had seven sacks all season take down their 40-year-old quarterback six times. They were called for 12 penalties, six of them gifting the Falcons a first down. They were flagged for hands to the face four times.

Was everyone in New Orleans still “LSU beat Bama” drunk?

There’s really no explaining Sunday’s result in the Superdome. The Saints were outplayed in every way on both sides of the ball. Most worrisome was the offense, which couldn’t find the end zone at home for the first time in the Drew Brees era. The Falcons were giving up 31.3 points per game — third-worst in the league — and the Saints managed just three measly field goals.

Their running game was nearly nonexistent (52 yards on 11 carries). The usual solid third-down offense converted just 3 of 12 attempts. They were 0 for 3 in the red zone.

Some of these issues aren’t new, either. For the season, New Orleans has scored touchdowns on just 48.5 percent of its red zone trips, or sliiiiightly better than Freddie Kitchens’ Browns, who start playing their own version of “the floor is lava” game with the end zone whenever they get too close to the goal line.

This was also the fourth time this season the Saints have scored under 14 points — but the first time they’ve done it with a healthy Brees the entire game.

Last season, their offense slowed down as the season wore on, and it ended up catching up to them in the playoffs. This year, it might have caught up to them earlier. This is the type of game a contender can’t afford to lose, especially considering it could be the difference between a top seed in the playoffs and having to play on Wild Card Weekend.

Panic index: Anything can happen in a rivalry as big as Saints-Falcons. Most of us didn’t expect, y’know, the two teams to swap bodies, but that’s apparently what happened in Week 10. Still, don’t discount Atlanta’s effort; the Falcons are loaded with talent and looked like they used their bye week to actually prepare, unlike the Saints.

In that sense, this game could simply serve a reminder to the Saints to take each opponent seriously. Just like the Packers the week before, the loss could’ve been the letdown game that happens to pretty much every team once a year.

Even if the offense remains inconsistent, they still have Michael Thomas (152 receiving yards against the Falcons) and an offensive line that should be healthier in their next game than it was Sunday. They also have a strong defense that has been able to carry the team this season, despite the loss to a still-potent Falcons offense.

Going forward, their biggest defensive concern should be on the status of Marshon Lattimore, who left the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury. He had shut down Julio Jones prior to that and as soon as he exited, Jones ripped off a 54-yard gain. They’ll need their star corner to get healthy while they continue to vie for homefield advantage in the playoffs.

The Bills’ defense can’t do it all

Buffalo ranks third in the NFL in scoring defense (16.7 points per game). It ranks third in the NFL in yards allowed. Opponents have only scored seven passing touchdowns through nine games.

Despite all this, the Bills have yet to win a game against a team with a winning record. The six teams they’ve beaten are a combined 12-44. They spent Week 10 shutting down the Browns in the red zone time after time — Cleveland turned its first two trips to the Buffalo goal line into three total points — and still lost when Stephen Hauschka’s 53-yard game-tying field goal try sliced just barely to the left of the uprights.

How’d that happen? An offense that hasn’t ranked in the top 10 in yards gained in a full season since 2000 remained mired in its mediocrity. Josh Allen, the 2018 top-10 pick whose progress as a quarterback has been a slow trudge to respectability, completed just 22 of 41 passes and failed to throw a single completion in the red zone (0-4). Devin Singletary, who’d spent Week 9 outshining two different future Hall of Famers en route to 140 yards from scrimmage, had just eight carries and three catches for a unit that never found its rhythm against a defense that ranked 23rd in points allowed before Sunday.

The Bills have a more efficient offense than the Patriots — their 5.3 yards per play is slightly better than New England’s 5.2 — but there’s little trust they can kick that group into gear when it desperately needs points.

Panic index: The Bills have scored just 12.3 points per game against opponents with non-losing records this fall. If that doesn’t change, they’ll either be one half of a mostly unwatchable Wild Card Round game or miss the postseason for the second straight season.

The Giants might need to shut down Saquon Barkley

We’re halfway through the NFL season, and 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year Saquon Barkley has had just two games with over 100 rushing yards — in the first two weeks of the season. The Giants’ star running back missed three weeks beginning in late September due to a high ankle sprain, and hasn’t looked the same since returning on Oct. 20 against the Cardinals.

His worst performance of his career came Sunday against the Jets, when he rushed for 1 yard — yes, one yard — on 13 carries:

Saquon Barkley finished today's game with 1 rushing yard on 13 carries. Not only is this his career low in rushing yards, it's the fewest rushing yards by any non-QB on 10+ carries since Reggie Bush had -5 yards on 11 carries in a Week 9, 2006 win over the Buccaneers.#NYGvsNYJ

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) November 10, 2019

After the game he received X-rays, but insisted this week he’s OK. Although reporters asked Barkley and head coach Pat Shurmur if the running back if he intends on sitting out the rest of the season, that doesn’t seem to be the plan for now.

“I do not agree with that idea at all ... The mindset of sitting me out and resting me for the rest of the season is beyond me. I do not agree with it and it won’t happen. I’m going to keep going until I can’t go anymore. That’s the type of player I am and I’m going to do it for my teammates,” Barkley said via Big Blue View.

Shurmur added that he has “absolutely not” considered shutting Barkley down for the season, so it appears the two are on the same page for now.

But does it really make sense for a 2-8 team to keep playing Barkley if he’s not 100 percent?

Panic Index: The good news for Barkley is that the Giants have a bye this upcoming week, so that gives him a great opportunity to get healthy before the Nov. 24 game against the Bears. If he’s healthy and Barkley feels good enough to keep playing, then the Giants should. After all, they need some kind of spark.

Quarterback Daniel Jones has 13 fumbles this season, while backup running back Wayne Gallman has just 109 rushing yards. The offensive line has looked bad and has been banged up. Sterling Shepard has only played four games due to concussions and tight end Evan Engram is dealing with a foot injury.

If Barkley doesn’t look much better after the bye, that might give the team more of an incentive to consider sitting him, though. At the very least that’d let him get healthy, and could give the Giants a high draft pick so they can get some OL or another playmaker for the future.

[your-dietician]

MLB Trade Rumors and News: MLB All-Star starting rosters announced

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MLB Trade Rumors and News: MLB All-Star starting rosters announced

The MLB Daily Dish is a daily feature we’re running here at MLBDD that rounds up roster-impacting news, rumors, and analysis. Have feedback or have something that should be shared? Hit us up at @mlbdailydish on Twitter or @MLBDailyDish on Instagram.

After a couple rounds of voting, the results of the fan vote are in for the 2021 All-Star Game and the starting lineups for the game were announced Thursday evening. There were certainly some unfortunate snubs like Kris Bryant and Ozzie Albies and the American League is going to have to replace Mike Trout on their roster given that he is currently on the 60-day IL, but other than that…it looks like a pretty strong group.

The Yankees added some speed to their roster on Thursday as they traded for Tim Locastro from the Diamondbacks in exchange for a pitching prospect. Sure, Locastro isn’t exactly a household name and he isn’t having a banner year at the plate, but the guy can RUN and he is more than willing to lean into a pitch to get on base, so the Yankees have that going for them.

Dellin Betances just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injury. The Mets signed Betances in free agency after the 2019 season in the hopes that he could put his injury issues behind him and return to his previously dominant form. Instead, he has pitched a total of 12.2 innings in a Mets uniform and now has to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery.

Mariners lefty Héctor Santiago is the first pitcher to be disciplined as part of MLB’s foreign substance crackdown after being ejected Sunday, when umpires believed they found a foreign substance on his glove. Santiago admitted to having rosin on his glove, and while it wasn’t a highly-publicized element of the new policy, pitchers are now strictly prohibited from having rosin on their person, even though they are allowed to obtain it from the bag on the mound. MLB confiscated Santiago’s glove but never examined it, and now they’ve hit him with a 10-game suspension and undisclosed fine.

MLB is investigating Dodgers right-hander Trevor Bauer after a woman was granted a temporary domestic violence restraining order against him in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Bauer’s attorney claims the actions took place as part of a consensual sexual relationship.

The Blue Jays are determined to reach the playoffs for a second straight season, and they boosted their roster on Tuesday morning by acquiring sidearming reliever Adam Cimber and currently injured outfielder Corey Dickerson from the Marlins in exchange for veteran utility player Joe Panik and relief prospect Andrew McInvale.

Indians outfielder Josh Naylor is likely out for the season after suffering a dislocated right ankle in a collision with second baseman Ernie Clement. If this is it for Naylor this year, he’ll finish with rather unremarkable numbers: a .253/.301/.399 slash line and seven homers in 69 games.

Braves starter Mike Soroka has re-ruptured his Achilles and will not pitch again in 2021. After making three starts in 2020, he tore his Achilles. He hadn’t pitched since then. Soroka looked like he’d be the Braves’ ace for years to come after going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and .236 OBA in 2019, but now his future is extremely uncertain.

The Athletics have reunited with veteran starter Homer Bailey on a minor league contract. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 35-year old was ravaged by injuries in 2020. The last time Bailey played with Oakland, he hurled 4.30 ERA over 13 starts and 73 1/3 innings. Here’s hoping for a comeback.

It is always nice to start the day with some good news, and Cubs fans woke up to fuzzy feelings all around last week as Chicago used four pitchers including starter Zach Davies and closer Craig Kimbrel to no-hit the Dodgers. Kimbrel looked like the Kimbrel of old, and let’s not understate how difficult it is to shut down that Dodgers offense. Really impressive.

The Rays promoted top prospect Wander Franco, and he immediately made his presence known in his debut, hitting a game-tying homer for his first major league hit while also collecting a double and a walk. At Triple-A Durham, the 20-year-old was slashing .323/.376/.601 with seven home runs in 173 plate appearances.

The Mets’ rotation sustained a pair of blows last week, as the team announced that lefty Joey Lucchesi will undergo Tommy John surgery, then right-hander Marcus Stroman exited his start early with left hip soreness. While they have a comfortable lead in the NL East, the Mets continue to be dealt an incredible amount of adversity, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can stay afloat.

The Blue Jays have signed veteran reliever John Axford, reports Jamie Campbell of Sportsnet. The 38-year-old hasn’t seen a major league mound since 2018 and had been working as an analyst on the Jays’ pre and postgame shows before being asked to pitch for them again. The bulk of his career came with the Brewers, as he played in Milwaukee from 2009-13, but now the Ontario native will embark on his third stint with Toronto.

The Tigers have released Wilson Ramos, per a club announcement. The 33-year old signed a $2M deal with Detroit at the beginning of this year, and he looked like he was really giving the Tigers the most value for their buck after going yard six times in his first nine games. Unfortunately that took a turn in early May, when a back injury completely derailed the 12-year major league veteran. Should he be able to heal quickly enough for a late season renaissance, he could make a great extra backstop for a team in contention. Posting a 105 wRC+ for the Mets in 2019, he’s still got some gas left in the tank for whatever team is willing to take the risk.

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is going to be out for an extended period after suffering a quad injury trying to beat out a double play.

Rays ace Tyler Glasnow’s season is in jeopardy after he suffered a partially torn UCL and flexor strain in his right arm. He’ll initially try to rehab the injuries rather than immediately opting for Tommy John surgery. In an interesting crossover with the biggest story being discussed around baseball right now, Glasnow said MLB’s crackdown on foreign substances contributed to his injury, as he stopped using a mixture of sunscreen and rosin, and as a result he began gripping the baseball so hard that he injured his elbow.

A lot has been made in recent weeks about the proliferation of foreign substances used primarily (but certainly not exclusively) by pitchers to get better grip on balls to have better command as well as to generate greater spin. It has been clear that MLB was going to crack down on the practice and now it looks like it has landed on its chosen punishment, as it was announced that players found to be using such substances will receive a 10-game paid suspension.

It is fair to say that the 2021 season has been a particularly weird one. Teams that we all thought would be good haven’t been and teams that were thought to be afterthoughts have been anything but. Our own Andersen Pickard broke down the five most surprising teams from the 2021 season so far.

It’s the most glorious time of the year: here’s your 2021 MLB Draft primer for notable players, draft order, and more.

The Twins are dragging their feet for extension talks with Jose Berrios, SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson reports. Berrios has one last year of arbitration eligibility before he’s free to sow his wild oats and hit the market in the 2022-23 offseason. And as of now, the Twins have done little to nothing to stop him. Could that be because the NL Central 4th place team is looking to use him as a lucrative trade chip come this year’s deadline? The 27-year old could bring a significant return for Minnesota, but is it enough to risk for them losing him? He’s having another strong season this year, with a 3.49 ERA and a 26% strikeout rate. Either way, as the trade deadline gets closer, we’ll see what moves the Twins are thinking of making.

After going 5-24 in the month of May, the Arizona Diamondbacks are reeling and are already buried in an NL West where even a good season would not guarantee a playoff berth. In order to try to stop the bleeding and try to get back to some level of decency, Arizona fired hitting coaches Eric Hinske and Darnell Coles. Sadly, given the breadth of that roster’s issues, it seems like that they will still end up as one of the league’s worst teams.

Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, widely regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects and the potential savior of the Mariners organization, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma after getting into an 0-for-39 slump. Kelenic, who played just 28 games in the upper minors (21 at Double-A in 2019 and seven at Triple-A this year) before reaching the majors, has an .096 batting average and .378 OPS in 23 major league games.

The Mets had been hopeful to get Noah Syndergaard back in their rotation soonish to try and hold off their division rivals in what has been a surprisingly bad National League East. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a good bit longer, as Syndergaard’s rehab hit a setback, and elbow inflammation will keep him out until at least August.

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